This is why you should never trust what a Chief Executive says. Asustek CEO, Jerry Shen, has apparently told an investor conference yesterday that it will be launching a smartbook device in the first quarter 2010. He even referred to smartbooks with such colorful language as a “secret weapon” that could take the company to a new “Eee PC-like peak”

However, it was only in late August when Shen had reportedly frozen development of smartbooks. “Currently, I still don’t see a clear market for smartbooks,” Shen said at the time. Obviously something has changed his mind in the intervening two months, looking at the contrast in sentiment.

Little detail is known about the Asus smartbook, although Shen said that pricing will be around the NTD 6,000 ($185, €125, £110) mark, before tax. It will also apparently be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon (ARM-designed) processor. We’re still waiting for the hoard of smartbooks to launch this quarter, however despite this, it would take a foolish person to write off this interesting new category of device.